I will withdraw troops from Iraq: Hillary

MANCHESTER: Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has said that her first act as president would be to end the US military presence in Iraq.

Iraq and national security were recurring themes in the televised debate on Sunday between eight Democratic hopefuls in New Hampshire, the state where both US major parties are holding their first primary elections in early 2008.
 
Clinton, seeking to become the first female president in US history, pushed back with calm determination.

She refused to be drawn out on Iran, calling for intensified diplomacy but insisted that Tehran must be prevented "at all costs" from getting nuclear weapons. When an audience member asked the candidates for their most urgent priorities, Clinton was clear.
 
"Well, if President Bush has not ended the war in Iraq, to bring our troops home, that would be the very first thing that I would do," she said, drawing applause from an audience of several hundred at St Anselm's College in Manchester, New Hampshire.
 
Barack Obama, the charismatic senator from Illinois who is considered Clinton's closest competitor, agreed with her.
 
Clinton sought to shift blame to Iraqis, paying tribute to US troops who she said had provided a chance for democracy that Iraqis were squandering.
 
"They gave the Iraqi people a chance for elections and to have a government," she said. "It is the Iraqis who have failed to take advantage of that opportunity."
 
Other topics during the two-hour debate included energy policy, the environment and proposals by all of the major Democratic candidates to expand health care insurance.
 
The Republicans will hold their own presidential debate Tuesday in Manchester.